Lint cotton opener and cleaner



' Sept. 3, 1957 E. H. BROOKS LINT COTTON OPENER AND CLEANER 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 9, 1954 INVENT OR ATTORNEY Sept. 3, 1957 E. H.BROOKS LINT COTTON OPENER AND CLEANER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 9;1954 INVENTOR 0 5: A! Bkoak:

ATTORNEY liinited States Patent 065cc 2,804,655 Fatented Sept. 3, 1957LINT COTTON OPENER AND CLEANER Eugene H. Brooks, Birmingham, Ala.,assignor to Continental Gin Company, Birmingham, Ala, a corporation ofDelaware Application June 9, 1954, Serial No. 435,552

6 Claims. (Cl. 19-93) This invention relates to apparatus for handlinglint cotton and other fibrous material, and, in particular, relates to alint cotton opener and cleaner for use in cotton mills. Cotton iscustomarily delivered to the mills in the form of bales. These bales areextremely dense and the fibers are matted and intertwined. To preparethe cotton for manufacture into cloth it is necessary that the bales beopened and the cotton fibers placed in a form suitable for cardingequipment, etc. 7

Despite the fact that much of the cotton is processed through ginshaving more or less elaborate cleaning equipment it is also necessary tofurther clean the cotton prior to the time it is processed through thecloth and thread forming machines. Also the cotton which is received bythe mills is apt to come from a number of different gins or productionareas, and as a re'sult, the quality, insofar as cleanliness isconsidered, varies. Therefore, not only do the cotton mills employ lintopening machinery, but additional machinery for cleaning is. utilized.In some mills, for example, a battery of blending feeders are usedtogether with an opener and lap forming pickers. An object of thisinvention is to provide a combined lint opener and cleaner which will inone operation open and clean cotton or similar material, and which canbe used as a blender with excellent results.

Another object of this invention is to provide a ma-. chine which issimply constructed, which is compact in size and which requires littleattention in its operation. The device constructed in accordance withthis invention may be operated with the same reliability that thepresent gins and associated equipment can be operated and it does notrequire constant attention.

These and other objects and advantages will become apparent from thefollowing description andthe accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a sectional elevational View illustrating the cotton workingmachine constructed in accordance with the invention.

Figure 2 is a fragmentary sectional view of a portion of the apparatusshown in Fig. l on an enlarged scale.

Figure 3 is a side view of the member of Fig. 2 on a reduced scale.

Figure 4 is a side elevational'view of the machine.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary perspective view showing the internalconstruction.

Referring now in particular to the drawings, reference characterindicates a housing. The latter is suitably braced or supported in anyconvenient manner, such as by angle irons, etc. The housing can beprovided with a number of removable or pivotally connected panelsproviding inspection of the interior and adjustment, as is well known inthe art of cotton machinery. For example panel 12 can be supported onledges 14 formed of angle brackets extended laterally of the machine andthe whole front panel 16 can be connected to brackets 18, 20, whichrespectively extend laterally and vertically of the machine by fasteningdevices such as screws. It is obvious that panels may be provided in anumber of different ways all within the skill of one employed in theart.

Frame elements 22, 24, 26, etc. at the side of the machine, supportlaterally extending shafts 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 46, 48and 50 in journal blocks, such as 51. Shaft 38 can be used as the maindrive shaft and each of the other shafts with the exception of shaft 50are provided with pulleys, such as 52 which are connected by belts 53with the main drive shaft 38 through pulley 54. Obviously any suitabledrive may be used for transmitting power to the shafts and the driveshown is similar to that employed on other cotton working machines.Obviously the shape of the framing can also be modified as desired.

Within housing 10 there are formed a number of chambers. The latter arepreferably formed of sheet metal elements which may be stiffened andsupported by angle members extending laterally of the machine and connected to the sides of the housing and to frame members 22, 24 and 26.The whole is interconnected to provide suitable stability and rigidity.In the upper right of the machine, as shown in Figure 1, there is abrush chamber 62. Downwardly to the left there is a conveyor chamber 64,a second brush chamber 66, a wiper chamber 68, a conveyor chamber 70,and a third brush chamber 72. The housings for the above mentionedchambers all cooperate to produce a main lint chamber 74.

In the lower right or front end of the machine is a belt 76. Belt 76 isreeved over rollers 78 and 80 afiixed to shafts 48 and 50 respectively.The belt travels in the direction shown by arrow 82. The cotton isintroduced to the machine through opening 84 on to belt 76 and from thelatter it is carried to saw cylinders 86, and 102. The saw cylinderscomprise a number of disc saws connected to the central shaft. Each sawis spaced from its adjacent saw by spacers 88-. The saw cylinders openand fluff the cotton. Some of the cotton engaged by cylinder 86 iscarried around by the saws to dofier brush 90. The latter is connectedto shaft 46 and wipes saw cylinder 86 to remove the cotton therefrom. Inthe meantime trash or motes which are disengaged by cylinder 86 arethrown into wiper chamber 68. The chamber 68 has a Wiper blade 92connected to discs at each end such as 94 which are in turn fixed toshafts 40. The wiper blade rotates in the direction shown by theassociated arrow and moves motes and trash into conveyor chamber 70where screw conveyor 96 moves the trash to the side of the machine whereit is dumped. As the cotton is fed into the machine over the belt 76 itforms a roll indicated at 98. Saw cylinders 100 and 102 are constructedsimilar to cylinders 86 and operate on the roll of cotton in the mannerdescribed above. Cylinder 100 is doffed by brush cylinder 104 andcylinder 102 is dotted by cylinder 106. Cylinders 100 and 102 will combine to flufi the cotton and also disengage motes and trash. The motesand trash from cylinder 100 will be thrown through opening .108 intowiper chamber 68 and the motes and trash from cylinder 1-02 will' bethrown into mote chamber 64.

The screw conveyor is mounted in chamber 64 on shaft 34 and isconstructed similar to conveyor 96. Conveyor 110 operates to move themotes and trash to the side of the machine. Cylinder 112 is constructeddifferently from cylinders 86, 100 and 102. Cylinder 112 can be formedof end discs such as 114 having a cylinder 116 connected, thereto. Anysuitable material may be used. The latter cylinder has a helical groove118 formed therein with a pitch of about six or seven grooves per inch.Wire 120 is wrapped around the cylinder and seated within the groove.The wire has toothlike projections 124 formed on the outer surfacesomewhat similar to saw teeth. However, the wire teeth vary from about.042" to about 0.225" in depth and project radially outward as comparedto the saw teeth of cylinders 86102. Cylinder 112 thus does not pick upmuch cotton from the rotating roll 98, but due to its proximity to sawcylinder 102 it serves as a knocker cylinder for the latter andfacilitates removal of the excess cotton from cylinder 102. The latteris the last saw cylinder encountered by the roll in its clockwiserotation within the machine. By using the wire wound knocker cylinder112 together with the brush cylinder 106 almost complete dofiing of sawcylinder 102 is obtained, and the last cylinder does not pack withcotton. This substantially reduces the reworking of the cotton by thiscylinder. It should be noted that all of the saws are positioned withrespect to each other so that each succeeding cylinder removes excesslint from the cylinder immediately below it, thus cylinder 100 willremove excess lint from cylinder 86. Cylinder 102 will remove excesslint from cylinder 100 and cylinder 112 will remove excess lint fromcylinder 102. This is accomplished by spacing the saw cylindersproperly. As an example saw cylinders equipped with 12" diameter sawswill function properly when spaced 12%" on centers leaving a A clearancein between the saws at their closest points. Means can be provided foradjusting the spacing such as dotted journal block bases and shims.Cylinder 112 is doffed by brush 106 and the small amount of cotton (incomparison) picked up by cylinder 112 is thus doffed by the same brushused to doff cylinder 102. Flues 124, 126 and 128 lead from the brushesand merge in a common flue 130. The brushes create sufficient draft toforce the cotton through the fiues. Adjustable mote boards 132, 134 and136 are provided. Air intakes 140, 142 and 144 facilitate entrance ofair into the flues under the influence of the brushes.

The saw cylinders and the wire wound cylinder 112 are mounted onparallel axes as are the remaining rotating elements of the machine.Furthermore cylinders 86, 100, 102 and 112 have their axes of rotationpositioned substantially on an arc concentric with the roll 98. Theapproximate are 150 is indicated in Fig. l to show the relationshipamong the axes of rotation. The brush cylinders and moting equipment arealso generally concentrically arranged with respect to the roll 98. Allthe saw cylinders rotate in the same direction and thus tend to rotatethe mass of cotton 98. The brush cylinders also rotate in one direction.It is seen that the invention comprises an opening and cleaning meansincluding brush type doffer members for dofiing saws, a wire woundknocker for knocking the last saw cylinder and moting equipment forcleaning the cotton interposed between the brush doffcrs and adjacentthe main saw cylinders. The last, wire wound, cylinder, picks up verylittlecotton.

The cylinder 112 removes the surplus cotton from saw 102 and alsoimparts a force to rotate mass 98. An important feature of the inventionis the cleaning of the fibers by centrifugal force. When the mass offibers is acted on by the saw cylinders, the trash is thrown past themote boards into the mote troughs.

Figure is a slightly exploded view showing the wiper 92, conveyor 96,brush 90 and saw cylinder 86. The view illustrates that the saw cylindercan be formed of a number of saw blades spaced apart by spacers 88. Thebrush can comprise a single drum having brush sticks or a number ofdrums placed side by side. The construction of the wiper is clearlyillustrated as is also that of the screw conveyor. The latter cancomprise twisted metal supported on a central shaft.

While I have shown and described a preferred form of my invention itwill be understood that variations in detail of form may be made withoutdeparture from the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A machine for opening and cleaning compact masses of fiberscomprising a plurality of rotatably mounted saw cylinders each havingperipherally extending saw teeth, said cylinders being positioned onsubstantially parallel axes of rotation, said cylinders having theiraxes of rotation lying substantially within an arc, the saw teeth ofeach cylinder passing closely adjacent the saw teeth of the nextadjacent cylinder during rotation thereof, a last cylinder having anaxis of rotation extending parallel to the axes of the other cylindersand having its said axis lying within said arc, said last cylinderhaving a wire wound thereon in the form of a helix, tooth-likeprojections formed on said wire, said projections extendingsubstantially radially from said last cylinder, said projections passingclosely adjacent teeth of one of said saw cylinders and serving toremove excess cotton from said one of said cylinders, brush cylindersfor doffng each of said saw cylinders and said last cylinder, and motingmeans positioned intermediate said brush cylinders and adjacent said sawcylinders for receiving motes and trash from said saw cylinders, andmeans cooperating with said moting means for removing motes and trashfrom said machine.

2. A machine for opening and cleaning cotton comprising a housing, feedmeans for feeding cotton into said housing, a series of saw cylindersrotatably mounted in an arc adjacent the end of said feed means foracting on the cotton fed by said feed means, said cylinders acting toform a rotating mass of cotton and to remove fibers from said mass, saidsaw cylinders all rotating in a common direction, dofier means fordotfing cotton from said saw cylinders and means for removing motes andtrash from said cotton comprising mote chambers positioned intermediatesaid means for doffing said saw cylinders and adapted to receive motesand trash from said saw cylinders, and means cooperating with saidmoting means for removing motes and trash from said chambers.

3. Means for opening and cleaning fibers comprising a housing, means forfeeding said fibers into said housing, saw cylinders positioned adjacentsaid last named means for receiving said fibers therefrom, saidcylinders rotating in a common direction and being positioned one abovethe other in an arc and causing rotation of the fibers received withinsaid machine in the form of a roll and removing fibers therefrom as saidroll comes in engagement with said saw cylinders, one of said sawcylinders comprising a knocker cylinder for knocking excess cotton offthe next adjacent cylinder, said one of said cylinders being the lastcylinder in said arc in the direction of rotation of said roll; meansfor dotfing all of said cylinders for removing fibers therefrom, meansfor removing fibers from the dofiing means, means for receiving motesand trash from said cylinders positioned intermediate and adjacent saiddofiing means, and means for removing motes and trash from said meansfor receiving motes and trash.

4. A device for opening and cleaning fibrous masses comprising ahousing, means for feeding fibrous material into said housing sawcylinders arranged in an are extending from one end of the last namedmeans and upwardly thereabove and adapted to act on said fibrousmaterial to cause rotation of a mass thereof and to remove fiberstherefrom, dofier means for removing fibers from said cylinders, saiddofling means being arranged in an are substantially concentric with thefirst mentioned arc, and moting means for receiving motes and trash fromsaid saw cylinders positioned in an arc substantially concentric withthe first mentioned arc and intermediate said dofling means, and meanscooperating with said moting means for removing motes and trash receivedby said moting means from said device.

5. A combined lint cleaner and opener comprising a plurality ofrotatably mounted cylinders each having saw teeth positioned onsubstantially parallel axes of rotation, said saw cylinders beingclosely adjacent each other, belt means for directing cotton toward saidsaw cylinders, said cylinders being adapted to engage said cotton andopen the same during rotation of said cylinders, a chamber adjacent toeach of said saw cylinders, a brush type dotfer rotating in each of saidchambers, each of said saw cylinders being dolled by one of said brushtype doflers, mote receiving chambers positioned intermediate thedolr'ers and opening toward said saw cylinders and adapted to receivemotes and trash from said saw cylinders, an adjustable mote boardforming part of each of the brush chambers and each forming part of oneof the mote chambers and each board being adjustable with respect to thesaw cylinders for adjusting the moting operation, means within saidmoting chambers for conveying motes and trash from said cleaner andopener, a last cylinder positioned on an axis substantially parallel tothe axes of the saw cylinders and adjacent one of said saw cylinderswith the axes of rotation of the saw cylinders and said last cylinderlying within the arc of a circle and all of said cylinders beingrotatable in the same direction with said last cylinder being positionedat one end of said are, said cylinders being adapted to receive cottonfrom said belt means and rotate the cotton in the form of a rollconcentric with said arc, the saw cylinders being adapted to open andclean cotton in said roll, and said last cylinder being adapted toremove excess cotton from the adjacent one of the first mentioned sawcylinders and brush means for dofiing the last cylinder.

6. A machine for opening and cleaning compact masses of fiberscomprising a plurality of rotatably mounted saw cylinders each havingperipherally extending saw teeth, said cylinders having their axes ofrotation lying substantially Within an arc, the saw teeth of eachcylinder passing closely adjacent the saw teeth of the next adjacentcylinder during rotation thereof, a last cylinder having an axis ofrotation extending parallel to the axes of the other cylinders andhaving tooth-like projections formed thereon, said projections extendingsubstantially radially from said last cylinder and passing closelyadjacent the teeth of one of said saw cylinders and serving to removeexcess cotton from said one of said saw cylinders, brush cylinders fordofiing each of said saw cylinders and said last cylinder, and motingmeans positioned intermediate said brush cylinders and adjacent said sawcylinders for receiving motes and trash from said saw cylinders andmeans cooperating With said moting means for removing motes and trashfrom said machine.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,011,832 Murray Dec. 12, 1911 1,724,500 Mitchell Aug. 13, 19291,946,783 Deems Feb. 13, 1934 2,365,793 Asbill et a1. Dec. 26, 1944

